Mothers of Dinh Tuong

A red headline addresses the mothers of Dinh Tuong province and asks whether their children are in the so-called 'liberation'. Three photographs carry running counts for the lunar months of December to February: 2,662 Viet Cong killed (a woman at a coffin), 600 captured, and 540 who rallied. The tell is the three-way tally, with death shown as the common outcome and Chieu Hoi as the 'only way' home, plus scare quotes around 'liberation'.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal Card stacking Name-calling

Date: 1965
Period: Cold War
Made by: Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) printing section, for the South Vietnamese government (code 3138)
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Johnson Administration
Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
Audience: Enemy forces
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes: War and the military, Health
Event: Vietnam War
Source: Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 306, Psychological Warfare Posters, Vietnam War (NAID 561393), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) printing section, for the South Vietnamese government. National Archives and Records Administration, 306-VP-3-3138.

Text on the object

Original (Vietnamese) · read from the image, not independently checked

NHẮN NHỦ CÁC BÀ MẸ Ở TỈNH ĐỊNH TƯỜNG:
Con cái các bà có ở trong cái gọi là "GIẢI PHÓNG" không?
Đây là số phận của các cán binh Việt Cộng trong những tháng Chạp, tháng Giêng và tháng Hai D. L.

2662 cán binh Việt Cộng đã bị hạ

600 cán binh Việt Cộng đã bị bắt

540 cán binh Việt Cộng đã ra hồi chánh

CÁC CÁN BINH VIỆT CỘNG HÃY QUYẾT ĐỊNH CHỌN CON ĐƯỜNG TỐT ĐẸP NHẤT

CHIÊU HỒI LÀ ĐƯỜNG LỐI DUY NHẤT CHO CÁC CÁN BINH VIỆT CỘNG TRỞ VỀ VỚI GIA ĐÌNH THÂN YÊU CỦA MÌNH

3138

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

A MESSAGE TO THE MOTHERS IN DINH TUONG PROVINCE:
Are your children in the so-called "LIBERATION"?
This is the fate of the Viet Cong cadres and soldiers in the months of Chạp, Giêng and Hai [by] the solar calendar.

2,662 Viet Cong soldiers brought down

600 Viet Cong soldiers captured

540 Viet Cong soldiers rallied (returned to the government)

VIET CONG SOLDIERS, DECIDE TO CHOOSE THE BEST PATH

CHIEU HOI IS THE ONLY WAY FOR VIET CONG SOLDIERS TO RETURN TO THEIR BELOVED FAMILIES

3138

'Hạ' (brought down) is rendered literally and is the poster's wording for killed. 'Định Tường' is the province name (Dinh Tuong).